How Many Times
by Violet-Pears
Summary: "We all have those people who appear in every single life we lead. Those people are our soulmates. The people we can depend on no matter where we are in time or space. And us, the Teen Titans - including the honorary - we're soulmates. We would get no where without each other. We can only move forward when we're together. But you? You're not just my soulmate, you're my other half."
1. Adventurer

**This is where I'm going to dump a bunch of one shots (they will vary in length).**

**If I were you though, I would pay attention to the year at the top of each one shot because some of them will link into each other.**

**All one shots are based on the many lives the Titan's have lead - from the Perspectives of Garfield Logan and Raven Roth - it basically follows all the times they have fallen in love but never actually gotten together.**

* * *

**1638**

He was running. His heart pounding wild in his chest, tears streaming down his face. His legs couldn't seem to pull him away fast enough. The wind roared in his ears and the rain was pelting down, and it still didn't stop him. They had told him the cared. Told him he meant something to them. Yet it had all been lies. _Lies_. They had promised to look after him after the death of his mother and father, and yet they treated him like he meant nothing to anybody.

He was done with it. He didn't want their money. He didn't need it. He didn't want it. Just like he didn't want or need them. He could be whatever he wanted to be given the chance. And a business man was not what he wanted to be.

Then again, neither was a bounty hunter.

Or an adventurer.

That had been a surprise. But he was good at what he did. It meant adventure. It meant living on the open road. Taking jobs from the city guards, arrests, battles... It was somewhat freeing. It reminded him of some of the stories his mother used to tell him when he was a kid. Sometimes, he when he didn't have a job, he would go off and do his own thing.

He had made two friends – Vincent and Robert. The three of them often worked together, they would go on adventures together; swords and pistols at the ready. They would hunt out treasure and just explore, because they could do that. They had made quite a name for themselves. And somehow, caught the attention of a strange young woman from a foreign land. She had very tanned skin and wild red hair, with the brightest green eyes he had ever seen.

She joined them. Her name was Kalifa, and she was one hell of a warrior. She fought valiantly along with them, thoroughly enjoying the time she spent alongside them. She struggled to pick up the language, and so often made mistakes, making her sound far more naïve than he knew she was. She was accustom to their way of life as well, but it didn't seem to bother her, not in the slightest.

And one day he met _her_. They were helping out at a temple, asked to save them from the 'Shadow Worshippers' who were trying to destroy their temple. They had saved them and _she_ thanked them. She with the most amazing blue eyes and purple-ish black hair. The kind smile and terrified eyes. There was just something about her that drew him too her...

But she was a monk. She had duties. She lead a spiritual life. A life of semi-solitary.

While he loved adventure. He was a fighter. A hero according to some children he met. He loved people and despised solitude.

But that didn't stop him from taking as many jobs as possible that were close to that particular temple, simply so he could drop in and say hello. He spent as much time there as possible. Dedicating whatever free time he possibly could to spend with the beautiful and wonderful and just oh-so-wonderful Rachel.

He fell in love and he fell hard. He didn't stand a chance. Yet he would take all he could get.

That's what he always did when he met her.

He would take all he could get.

Because he needed her.

And one day, he would find her, and he would make her his.

It just wasn't then.


	2. War

**1942**

She sat on the couch, staring down at the envelope in her hand. She could not find the strength within herself to open it. When she had woken up she had awoken with a sense of impending dread, and staring at the envelope in front of her... She understood what the dread had symbolised. What her nightmare the night before had meant. What her emotional outbursts over the previous two days had meant.

She had seen a very similar envelope before. Not a month previously, when she had received a phone call with a very distraught Katharine Anderson sobbing down the phone begging her to visit. Kathy had been staying with her ever since she had received the letter. And Raquel found she had enjoyed the company in the troublesome time.

She knew the risks of war. She knew what could happen. But she, like so many others, had deluded herself to believe it wouldn't, _couldn't _happen to her. But then Ryan... And then Vance and Wallace... And then...

She ran her finger under the seal. Her hands shaking. Tears already streaming down her face. She slowly pulled the official letter out of the envelope. Once the letter was open, her eyes instantly found what they were not wanting to see.

_Dear Miss Ride... We are very sorry to inform... Garry Louden went missing in action at..._

She didn't need to read any more. She let out a sob, tears trailing down her face, dripping down onto the letter in her hands. She heard the feminine gasp behind her. She felt the added pressure on the couch. She felt the warm arms wrap around her. The letter being removed from her trembling fingers. She heard Kathy's strangled wail.

"B-b-but..."

She buried herself into her best friends embrace, letting grief over come her. Sobs racking her very being as she tried to comprehend what had happened. As she tried to imagine leading the rest of her life without the green eyed, blonde haired jokester by her side.

He promised he wound return.

He swore to her.

But then Ryan had promised Kathy... They were married and she, she had been promised a wedding. Gar had promised her that when he returned they would get married.

She had known the risks of war. He had known the risks of war. How had he even qualified? She let out a broken sob.

_Dear Raquel,_

_I hope everything is okay back home. Things are getting pretty rough here, I mean with Ryan and Wallace gone – how did Kathy take that by the way? Is she alright? Is she staying with you, she shouldn't be alone at a time like this. – and Vance MIA... God, how can people put others through this? I miss those guys so much. I've got Ron and Carl with me. Ron really misses Jasmine (believe it or not), and Carl misses Cass. How is Cass? Do you ever see her?_

_God, is this what these letters are turning into? Small talk. I never liked small talk. Hate it, and yet that's all I seem to be surrounded with. Its like some virus. And everything is so morbid, and depressing and traumatizing and I hate it._

_I miss you so much 'El._

_Now, I know how much you love my jokes so I'll end this letter with a new one I thought up._

_How is a banana peel on the sidewalk like music?_

_If you don't C sharp, you'll B flat._

_Love you,_

_Gar._

That had been the last letter she had received from him. It had arrived two days after the letter telling her he was M.I.A and for a moment her heart had gone wild, thinking that maybe there had been a mix up. That he was fine and well. That he would make it back to her soon enough. That he would come home and help her cheer up Kathy. That the three of them could go to the pizzaria like they used to – like they all used to, him, her, Kathy, Ryan and Vance. Sometimes Wallace and Ron would join them. And on the rare occasion so would Carl and Cass.

But then she had caught sight of the date it had been written, and her heart had torn all over again. He was still M.I.A. He wasn't on his way home. She may never know the fate that had befallen him. And it terrified her. Because she couldn't imagine someone so filled with life going through so much suffering.

She curled herself into her bed, gripping onto the letter as if her life depended on it. She closed her eye, tears streaming down her face. And for the first time since she was a little girl, she found herself praying to every deity she knew, begging for the life of Garry Louden. Begging for his return. Begging to see him once more.

When she fell asleep that night, she was plagued by nightmares.

Her mind told her that it was hopeless to beg for his return.

Her mind told her that he was dead. That everyone who went M.I.A ended up dead.

Her mind told her he would be better off. Death was a better fate.

Her heart had not given up.

Her heart held strong, telling her there was still hope.

Hope that Gar would come home.

She had not given up on Vance.

She sure as hell wasn't giving up on Gar.


End file.
